trans canada trail

We've done visits across this country in both big cities and towns with populations smaller than 150. The thing about trails is that it doesn't matter where you are, most places have at least one trail, if not an entire network. This is what we discovered in Memramcook, New Brunswick.

We had a busy week planned for us in Thunder Bay, Ontario so we got down to business as soon as we arrived in town. This was two visits rolled into one. We were working with the Black Sheep Cycling Club to make sense of their trail system and with the Trans Canada Trail to link a large portion of the trail through town.

The Crow Wing Trail Association formed in 1999 to build a section of the Trans Canada Trail from Emerson to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The trail celebrates a historical trade route, and along its 191 km doesn't utilize any abandoned rail bed like other long sections of the TCT. Having completed all the connections, the organization is shifting focus to improving the trail for a better user experience.

We were thrilled to learn earlier this year that we would be heading to Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories to work with the Parks Canada staff at Wood Buffalo National Park. It's home to many endangered species with the only nesting site in the world for migratory whooping cranes and the world's largest free-roaming herd of wood buffalo. During our visit we were stopped by black bears and bison everyday and we spotted sandhill cranes, bald eagles and pelicans as well.

This week we found ourselves in the Chatham-Kent region of southern Ontario. Having come from the Niagara Escarpment we noticed the lack of hills and rock right away. We prayed for a hidden river valley away from the tracts of farm land. It turns out our project site was very unique. Once an old gravel pit the piece of land is currently being acquired by Ontario Parks and will be rehabilitated to become wetland habitat. Mother nature is already doing a decent job but the site is currently experiencing illegal dumping and ATV use.

We covered a lot of miles through northwest Ontario in only a few days. After Ottawa we spent half a day in Bancroft with Dave Naulls who owns Endo Cycles. He had just received a visit from Daniel Scott with our Trail Solutions program. Together, they explored the potential for Bancroft to develop a whole series of trail networks. We were there to provide an evening presentation to locals who represented various trail interests.